The Unusual(s) Recap: Boorland Day

Editor: I’m pleased to welcome Joe Omundson to The Disney Blog as a guest author.

The Second Squad continues their unorthodox patrol of New York City in the second episode of ABC’s “The Unusuals.” If you missed John’s post from last week about the pilot, check it out!

The episode opens with a bank robbery ending with Det. Walsh (Jeremy Renner) tackling a robber holding a huge bag of money. The robber turns out to be a 17-year old honors student that just happens to belong to the wrong family. A string of robberies pop up and at one hold up the robbers left an onion. Yes, a big yellow onion in the big apple. This onion is the trademark of the Boorland family, hence the episode’s title, “Boorland Days”

The crime spree continues as the squad rounds up as many of the Boorland family as they can. They find the patriarch of the family is sick, but he is still locked up with the rest of his family while the police sort out what is going on. While in the cell the Boorland father collapses in the cell. This leads to a very tense scene while the cops attempt to help the criminal, but have to make sure it isn’t a trick and keep the other family members at bay. It wasn’t a trick.

The Boorland family crime spree was to raise money to try to pay for dad’s needed kidney transplant. “Family first” is the Boorland’s motto, so the family did what they do to try to get the money.

The Christian with a secret, Det. Henry Cole (Joshua Close), has a friend from the past show up offering to “help” him with his problems like he did before. His friend later reveals that he “helped” Cole with the Kowolski problem. Kowolski was Det. Brown’s former partner who was found dead last week. Cole tells him he is handling it and for Det. Browns sake, I hope he is.

Much of the comedy of this episode comes from the team of Det. Leo Banks (Harold Perrineau – formerly of Lost) and Det. Eric Delahoya (Adam Goldberg). In the premier we saw that Det. Banks is obsessed with his own death. He is so certain that his death is imminent that it affects every aspect of his life. Det. Delahoya on the other hand, has a brain tumor and is probably dying.

Last week this led to his jumping in front of a subway train and this week it led him to follow the advice of a fortune cookie. The cookie said “Follow the dove.” Of course this led Det. Delahoya to jump off of a roof through a window to save an old woman who was being attacked. Aligning with Det. Banks’ self projections of death, his fortune was blank.

At the end of the episode they come together like real men do, over drinks. Det. Delahoya starts the conversation with “I love you man” but when Det. Banks later responds in kind, Det. Delahoya responds “Don’t be gay.” This is a moment that really cements the whole series, so far. They are dealing with some pretty heavy issues, mainly death, and the writers show convey those emotions well, but they also have very smartly built in the quirky, funny moments to keep the show light.

While this is happening Det. Shraeger (Amber Tamblyn) continues to seek out the past of her new partner for Sgt. Brown. She tries to get him to reveal his secrets by explaining that as partners she may need to cover things up for him should he die, but Det. Walsh won’t open up. We’ve seen the picture (from the pilot episode) but what does it mean? I was sincerely surprised that we found out at the end of just the second episode.

In a watery eye encounter, Det. Shraeger confesses to Det. Walsh that she was asked by the Sarge to get some information, and surprisingly he responds by telling his sad story. As we already knew, he was a baseball player in the big leagues. Unfortunately, while in the minor leagues he threw some games for a bookie. When he became a major leaguer he refused to continue to throw games and the bookie killed Det. Brown’s girlfriend. The police called it a “mugging gone wrong” but it led Det. Brown to become a cop.

In the end Det. Brown is able to convince daddy Boorland to call off the robberies and confess to organizing the crime spree. Det. Brown explains that by taking the fall he will go back to prison, where the federal government will be forced to pick up the tab on his kidney transplant. As a side deal it also helps his 17-year old son continue on his life. “Family first” is a great way to live your life, even if you are a crime family.

Overall this was another excellent episode that continued to build the story lines of Det. Delahoya dying and of Det. Cole’s past. I have a feeling that these two story lines will have major implications on the season. We also have seen a solid partnership grow between Det. Shraeger and Det. Walsh. I wasn’t expecting Walsh’s secret to be revealed so quickly, but it definitely solidified their partnership, if only in my head.

The last moments of the episode teased of a relationship that we had not seen before. Det. Walsh and Det. Allison Beaumont (Monique Gabriela Curnen). During the episode they would tell each other continually escalating numbers which we finally learned was the number of times the thought about each other during the day.

If you have missed either episode be sure to check out ABC’s Website. On “The Unusuals” (NOTE: link goes to a page with an Auto-Play video) page you can find full episodes, with limited commercial interruption. ABC’s Website is a wonderful place to catch up on all your favorite ABC shows!